This is my first post on my new STEM2Equity Blog. I am an entrepreneur and the founder of STEM2HEArts K-14 Career & Technical Education. At STEM2HEArts we are focused on bringing hands-on workshops, classes, & seminars to students from limited income backgrounds. We are focused on building teams of leaders, and design thinkers  by providing our students and their families with the hands-on experiences, and tools they will need to learn the introductory & key concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Health, Education, & Arts. We serve students from K-14 or Kindergarten through the 2nd year of college. We understand the importance of teaching our underserved students literacy, numeracy, design thinking, and computational thinking from pre-school through their adult careers. We are in the business of recruiting and educating future leaders from all underserved communities, but especially within communities of color.

Our programs are designed to address all forms of bias, prejudice, and discrimination based on: race, color, gender, physical attributes, socio-economic status, class, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, education, housing, incarceration, probation, health, mental status, age, national origin, etc.

I am also an amateur artist, expressing my talent on my first ever leaded glass "masterpiece" (pictured above) that I crafted over 30 years ago. I wanted to capture the San Francisco fog, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica Pyramid, the downtown buildings, and the SF 49ers,  I love San Francisco, California, the city of my birth. But, I have to work overtime to prepare our most neglected students to learn the skills necessary to compete in this technology driven economy. Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Health, Education, & Arts are the knowledge cornerstones of my STEM2HEArts K-14 Career & Technical Education Learning Centers. We are going to bring this powerful learning tool to students residing in subsidized housing, group homes, foster care, and juvenile detention centers.

WHAT DOES ART HAVE TO DO WITH STEM EDUCATION?

Leonardo DaVinci was not only a great artist, he was also a technological innovator, and inventor. Art is a cornerstone of design thinking. We must teach design thinking to all of our students through hands-on learning activities conducted in groups, or teams. The STEM2Equity Blog is focused on breaking down the barriers that prevent Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity in all sectors of our global tech oriented economy. Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity are all fingers on the same hand. Sometimes you have to raise your hand to get the attention of the powers that be. Join me in raising a hand to teach our students the skills they will need to compete in a global tech economy. www.stem2hearts.com